Blog

The 2021 Iowa Legislative Session kicked off last week at a time when the needs of families are great. The pandemic and the inequities it furthers for low-income Iowans and Iowa communities of color and the systemic discrimination that continues to disenfranchise our neighbors all mean we have much work to do to create systems that prevent trauma to Iowa’s children and families. Over the past few months, Iowa ACEs 360 has partnered with local coalitions and organizations to hold advocacy...

Amanda Gorman, the United States' first-ever youth poet laureate, recited a powerful poem at the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. [ Please click here to watch .]

By Rachel Martin, National Public Radio, January 19, 2021 Filmmaker Ken Burns has spent his career documenting American history, and he always considered three major crises in the nation's past: the Civil War, the Depression and World War II. Then came the unprecedented "perfect storm" of 2020 — and Burns thinks we may be living through America's fourth great crisis, and perhaps the worst one yet. "We're beset by three viruses, are we not?" he explains. There's "a year-old COVID-19 virus,...

From Community Commons, January 2021 We believe well-being is a broader concept than health. Our research experts have identified four components of well-being: physical and mental health as well as social and spiritual well-being . We are dedicated to improving not just health but well-being as a whole. With that in mind, we are developing a metric called Well-being Adjusted Life Years (WALY), which measures well-being. The data we gather using this survey will allow us to build this...

While many may understand the mental and emotional health consequences of early childhood trauma, some may not be aware of the vast physical health problems that can also occur. Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) have been shown to have tremendous and lasting impact on lifelong health. People experiencing these early childhood traumatic events – things like violence, sexual abuse, witnessing suicide, and more – often deal with many consequences of these issues, including: Increased risk of...

Fussiness and Colic Between 3-8 weeks of life, many babies become more fussy, with peak fussiness at 6 weeks. All babies need help calming their bodies during this time. However, some babies cry more than others and are more difficult to soothe. We refer to this as colic if a healthy, well-fed infant cries for more than 3 hours per day, more than 3 days a week for more than 3 weeks in a row. Typically colic begins around 3 weeks of life and the crying is more common in the evening hours. The...

Oftentimes, addiction is a result of mental health disorders and trauma, especially trauma that occurs at a young age or during childhood. Despite this, not all drug and alcohol treatment centers offer treatment that help with mental health disorders ; however, many luxury rehab facilities can help with this . This type of treatment, referred to as dual diagnosis treatment to help with both mental health and addiction , is vital to helping people truly overcome addiction issues. For those...

Wellness at the workplace during this time of change Can Workplace Wellness practices be done virtually in the midst of the continuing pandemic and social distancing? How do you start a Workplace Wellness practice? How does it make a difference? How do staff respond? Join us for this conversation on staff wellness and resiliency programming with Troy L. Brindle , Senior Vice President and COO of Access Services and National Vice President of Behavioral Health Integration for Refresh Mental...

1/20/21, positiveexperience.org/blog “For those who are telling me to keep my mouth shut, I can’t do that…I’m not going to segregate my moral concerns. And we must know on some positions, cowardice asks the question, ‘Is it safe?’ Expediency asks the question, ‘Is it politic?’ Vanity asks the question, ‘Is it popular?’ But conscience asks the question, ‘Is it right?’ And there’re times when you must take a stand that is neither safe nor politic nor popular, but you must do it because it is...

We all know that burnout, compassion fatigue, and secondary/vicarious trauma are problems in the helping and healing professions. The Job Demands and Resources Model provides trauma-informed leaders a simple way to evaluate and mitigate the impact of stress and trauma on their workforce. In this three-episode series, the Trauma-Informed Lens Podcast explores this model with the added bonus of examing how biometrics can help quantify organizational stress. ...

Looking for a supportive, low key place to be with others who work with young children, families, and communities? Consider joining our Community of Practice (fee free). The top priority for this C of P is thrive through soft, clear connection. Weekly Ask = 35 Minutes Ways to show up: ≤ 5 minutes = read blog post(it) (ships on Tuesday mornings EST) - It's a 3x3 inch note! 30 minutes = either Zoom OR chat via keyboard on C of P site Zoom >>> Thursdays, 7:30 - 8pm EST or 8 - 8:30pm...

Save A Warrior (SAW) CURRICULUM OVERVIEW The Save A Warrior (SAW) program helps save military and first responders dealing with crushing diagnosis, complex post-traumatic stress. Save A Warrior (SAW) is committed to addressing the staggering suicide rate plaguing our Military and First Responder communities. http://www.saveawarrior.org/home Key Authors Informing the SAW Curriculum: 1. Man and His Symbols (Jung) 2. The Road Less Traveled (Peck) 3. The Body Keeps the Score (van der Kolk) 4.